divine intervention
by I Write Sins Not Tragidies
Summary: She's actually just thinking that holy crap, maybe he won't say it at all, maybe someone's finally looking of for me. But then he does. "So what happened?"


She's surprised he made it so long without asking.

Her and Wyatt have been sitting in the car for exactly one hour and thirty-six minutes, and the only words he's said to her in that time were, "I get to choose the music." Since then, they've been sitting in complete silence; besides the song he let her pick out anyway playing over the stereo and the curses Wyatt mutters under his breath when some guy cuts him off.

She's thankful for the silence; she doesn't want to answer the question she knows is on the tip of his tongue. She's actually just thinking that, _Holy crap, maybe he won't say it at all, maybe someone's finally looking out for me._

But then he does.

"So what happened?"

She sighs and her stomach churns, even though she saw this coming. It's the one thing she really, really didn't want to talk about, but he knows that, because then he adds, "If you answer that, you don't have to say anything until we get there."

She rubs her eyes and bites down on her lip before answering. "So, um, they wanted to adopt us."

He quirks an eyebrow, taking his eyes off the road only briefly to look at her. "Isn't that a good thing?"

She nods. "Yeah, yeah, it was. But then, before the wedding, I, um, pulled Brandon aside, and we... Well, we kissed." She winces at the words. She hasn't talked about it since she apologized to Jude. "And Jude caught us." She sees him raise both his eyebrows out of the corner of her eye. "And he got mad and told me I was being selfish, which he was correct about." She shrugs, shaking her head. "And I wanted him to be safe and everything, so... I left."

Wyatt takes a moment to absorb the information. "You know, they're probably awake now."

She doesn't answer.

"And they probably know you're not in bed, and they're probably looking for you." He pauses. "They're probably freaking out, Callie."

She flinches at the thought. She can see it now: Jude has his head on Mariana's shoulder as he looks blankly at the television, her arm wrapped around him, Jesus on her other side. Lena's on the phone at the dining room table, asking anyone who Callie's ever spoken to if they know where she could be. Stef is hovering over her, looking stressed. Brandon's already driving around town, searching for her.

She knows she's being selfish. She knows that they were all happy after the wedding yesterday and that this just ruined everything.

But she needs to make sure Jude stays with them. She needs it more than anything. She needs to make sure he's not shipped off to another foster home, where they'll make him stay quiet and do every chore possible and drunkenly shout at him from the couch. Even if it means she won't get to stay there anymore.

"I need to keep Jude safe," she explains. "No matter what."

He doesn't reply to that, but she can see what he wants to say on his face. _You're being selfish. It'll be okay, just go back._

They sit in silence for about a half an hour. They hadn't bothered to change the song, and now some old song is playing, something she wouldn't expect him to have on his phone.

But, when she gives him a side glance when the song starts, he doesn't defend himself, he doesn't say it's his mom's and he has no idea how it got there, he just shrugs.

Hours later, they're just passing the border to Indiana, and she asks him to pull off to the next exit and drop her off there.

When they finally come to a stop, they sit awkwardly for a few moments before she opens the door.

"Well, b-"

He cuts her off by grabbing her wrist. She wants to panic at first, her brain flashing back to Liam, but then she reminds herself that this is Wyatt, and he won't hurt her.

"Callie," his voice is even and steady. "I just want you to be happy."

She looks him in the eye for a beat, then mutters, "Thank you." Whether it's for the ride or for his concern, she doesn't specify. He lets go of his grip on her wrist, and she steps out of the car, closing the door behind her.

She stands there until he drives away, until she can't see him anymore in the horizon.

Then, she walks.

She walks until she can't anymore. Until her feet pain. And even then, she walks until she can find a nice, safe looking park, where she can find a bench and curl up, using her backpack as a pillow. She'll find a group home tomorrow, she promises. But for now, she just sleeps.

She knows she ran away for a reason. She knows she has to keep Jude safe.

But, there's a part of her that hopes Wyatt called Lena and Stef, telling them where she was.


End file.
